The Vodafone Rally de Portugal is set to thrill once again, with the presence of four World Champions and five Portuguese rally champions. A guaranteed spectacle!
The 58th edition of the event, organized by the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP), features the strongest entry list of the season. It includes four FIA World Rally Champions, Sébastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanperä, Thierry Neuville, and Ott Tänak who collectively hold an impressive 12 world titles. They will be joined by Portuguese champions Armindo Araújo, Ricardo Teodósio, José Pedro Fontes, Pedro Meireles, and Kris Meeke. Just seeing them in action is reason enough to travel to some of the world’s most iconic rally stages.
Ogier leads the lineup with eight world titles, six of them consecutive, earned behind the wheel of cars as varied as the Toyota Yaris WRC, Ford Fiesta WRC, and VW Polo R WRC. Rovanperä claimed his two titles in the Toyota Yaris Rally1. Tänak famously ended Ogier’s reign by clinching the 2019 championship in the Yaris WRC. Last year, Thierry Neuville finally captured his long-awaited world crown driving the Hyundai i20N Rally1.
In total, France has claimed 18 WRC titles thanks to Sébastien Loeb (9), Sébastien Ogier (8), and Didier Auriol (1). Finland, a rallying powerhouse, has produced seven World Champions, Juha Kankkunen (4), Timo Mäkinen (4), Kalle Rovanperä (2), Marcus Grönholm (2), Ari Vatanen (1), Hannu Mikkola (1), and Timo Salonen (1), accumulating a total of 15 titles.
The Portuguese Rally Championship has also been home to fierce battles and historic achievements. Armindo Araújo is a seven-time national champion and has been the top Portuguese driver at the Rally de Portugal on 13 occasions. Over his illustrious career, he has driven machines such as the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, Hyundai i20 R5, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII and IX, and Citroën Saxo Kit Car.
Ricardo Teodósio, a three-time national champion, triumphed at the wheel of both the Hyundai i20N Rally2 and the Škoda Fabia R5. José Pedro Fontes took two titles with the Citroën DS3 R5. Pedro Meireles secured his crown in the Škoda Fabia S2000, while Britain’s Kris Meeke also claimed a Portuguese championship driving the Hyundai i20N Rally2.